Personal Tutors
On arrival you will be allocated a personal tutor. The idea is that they provide a friendly face and personal contact for you, amongst what can sometimes seem a bewildering array of different staff.
They are someone with whom you can have regular contact, who you ask questions and discuss problems with; both academic and personal. Even if they don’t have the answer they are very useful for pointing you in the right direction towards the best people to deal with specific problems.
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The main purpose of a personal tutor is:
1. To monitor student progress and pick up problems, which might interfere with progress, whether academic or welfare related.
2. To be a point of contact for the student.
3. To act as a referral point to other forms of support.
4. To be a link between the student and the institution, (including mediation and advocacy, if needed).
5. To provide the student with references.
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In reality the level of interest that different tutors take in their charges varies widely. Most students are required to meet their tutors regularly but this may only be once a year, unless something goes wrong. By the time you’ve been here a while you may have found other people to act as mentors or sources of advice and you’ll know how to seek out sources of help and information for yourself. That said, tutors can be a very useful asset at times, and most are only too willing to help you with any problems you may have, if you approach them and ask.
It is worth pointing out that personal tutors are not to be feared. It is not a sign of failure to admit you are struggling, and you certainly will not be penalised if you consult a member of staff about a genuine problem. Your tutor is there for you, to offer help and guidance where appropriate and help you to troubleshoot problems before they snowball out of control.
Medical Students
MBBS5 students – you are allocated a CBL tutor when you start the course; they will also be your personal tutor. When you change CBL tutors in year 2, they will become your new tutor. In T year you can chose which out of these two former tutors you want to continue with as your personal tutor. Just let the person know that you have chosen them please! MBBS4 students get allocated a personal tutor when they start the course and usually keep them for the duration.
If you are having problems with your personal tutor, or would like to be allocated a new personal tutor, please contact Leanda Kroll on lkroll@sgul.ac.uk. She will listen to your concerns. In practice, tutor numbers are limited so it’s rare for students to change tutors unless there’s a serious breakdown of the relationship.
Faculty of Health and Social Sciences Students
You are allocated a Personal Tutor when you start the course. If you have not been allocated a tutor or are having problems with your tutor, please contact your course director.
Physiotherapy: Linda King (lmking@hscs.sgul.ac.uk)
Nursing: Jane Lopez (jlopez@hscs.sgul.ac.uk)
Radiography - Diagnostic: Nigel Rogers (nrogers@hscs.sgul.ac.uk)
Radiography - Therapeutic: Geraldine Francis (gfrancis@hscs.sgul.ac.uk)
Midwifery: Valerie Sheridon (vsherida@hscs.sgul.ac.uk)
Paramedic: Paul Burke (pburke@hscs.sgul.ac.uk)
Most importantly…Don’t be afraid to use them!